Justin Timberlake Scores Super Bowl Halftime Show, But Fans Want Janet Jackson Back Too

Justin Timberlake announced his return to headline his third Super Bowl Halftime Show appearance and his fans cheered from their living rooms around the nation. At the same time, the whispers of Janet Jackson returning to the halftime stage as well got louder across the social media sites. It was probably one of the most infamous moments in the history of the halftime shows of Super Bowl when Justin Timberlake reached over to Janet Jackson and a wardrobe malfunction appeared live on nationwide TV.

Still, to this day, the talk continues about this wardrobe malfunction, which exposed Janet Jackson’s nipple for a split second on live television during the family-oriented show. Folks still debate whether it was fair or not for Janet to get all the scrutiny and fallout from this incident, leaving Justin unscathed.

Janet Jackson admitted to orchestrating this “nip-slip,” that “prompted a federal probe into television indecency,” according to the Daily Mail. Justin wasn’t informed of this stunt until minutes before he was due to take the stage. He reached over and “tore off half of Janet’s leather bustier while the pair were singing a duet, exposing her right breast,” reports the Daily Mail in an archived article.

According to Yahoo News, while folks are thrilled to see Justine Timberlake back for the Super Bowl Halftime show, they want Janet Jackson back as well. Justin announced his halftime headlining gig on Twitter with his friend Jimmy Fallon on Sunday night. That video is seen in this article below in a Twitter post.

While it might not seem like that long ago since the Janet Jackson “nip-slip” on the halftime center stage occurred, 14 years have already gone by since that time. According to Yahoo News, “fans on social media are calling for Timberlake to invite Jackson onstage with him, redeeming her of unfair censuring in the years following ‘Nipplegate.'”

Janet felt the repercussions of that tear-away piece of fabric after the incident exposed her breast, which was apparently a horrendous deed on TV at the time. This incident snowballed into Janet being blacklisted with very little backlash occurring for Timberlake. Today Twitter users are requesting Janet come back as well, but already people are suggesting a boycott of the show if she isn’t invited to appear with Justin.

Won’t be watching. BOYCOTT SUPERBOWL. https://t.co/IUBkZfWNG1

— DEPLORABLE BETSY (@eeynouf) October 23, 2017

After Janet’s Super Bowl Halftime Show debacle, her invitation was rescinded from the Grammy Awards, her music was blacklisted by CBS and Viacom, the CBS parent company. This included venues such as MTV and VH1. According to Yahoo News, fans would like to see Justin bring Janet on stage and apologize for the mishap, or “better yet” invite her to perform.

So far nothing has been heard from Janet regarding Justin’s halftime gig announcement or about the masses suggesting she be included in the halftime set. A clip of Justin Timberlake was shown on Fox News Sunday and he explains he has gone back and looked at past Super Bowl halftime performances of recent years in preparation for his gig in February.

He admits he has some big, big, acts to follow during an exclusive interview with Football Night in America host Mike Tirico. According to E Online, he told Tirico not to count on seeing him do anything as elaborate as Lady Gaga’s high-flying performance at last year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. It sounds like Justin may be feeling his age these days, as he tells Tirico:

“I don’t know, man. I’m 36 now. I don’t know how much of that I can do anymore.”

Timberlake said this after they discussed all the different performances that have upped the ante on halftime entertainment. His aim for the “fast-paced, high-octane set is to get people dancing and having fun.” He told Tirico what he had in mind:

“What I really want to do is take the opportunity to put together a performance that feels like it unifies. I feel like that would be the ultimate accomplishment, and then the icing on the cake is at some point, within that 12 minutes, that everybody is shaking their booty.”

I DO have the time. Half the time…#PepsiHalftime #SBLII @Pepsi @NFL @JimmyFallon @FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/4Z4Dz29l3X

— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) October 23, 2017

According to The Independent, Super Bowl XXXVIII’s exposed breast debacle had acts like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen booked for halftime shows following the mishap. It took a few years for “solo pop artists to creep back in” to the Super Bowl Halftime Shows.

This year fans are waiting to see if Justin’s idea of offering a “unifying performance” will include bringing Janet Jackson along for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

[Featured Image by Jordan Strauss/AP Images]